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I have always loathed the idea of pushing dirty water around on a floor with a grungy mop. I would really rather just get down on my hands and knees and use a clean rag that I can rinse out frequently. As much as I hate to admit it, though, the old I get – the more uncomfortable the whole hands and knees thing is.

I have been through more floor mops than I can list right now, all in the quest to find one I don’t think is disgusting. I know there are the contraptions that have disposable pads and little nozzles that spray out cleanser. And while those are well and good, I am actually more in the market for something much simpler. I just want a mop I can grab when I need it.

I did find one that has a flat pad that you cover with a washable terry cloth cover. In fact, it is what I am currently using in the kitchen. So far, it seems to work well. I can go over the floor quickly and then put the cloth cover in the wash with the other kitchen rags, with bleach and hot water. That way, all fabric parts are completely removable and there is nothing that can sit and mildew. To me, this seems like the best option.

I know, most of you are probably thinking I am just being ridiculous to not break down and buy one of those systems with the disposable pads, but for me it all comes down to the recurring cost of an appliance and it is not economical to have to re-buy pads indefinitely. Call me a penny pincher, thank you very much

I really should be outside getting my yard work done before it gets too hot. May in Florida is when summer starts setting in and although the humidity is generally still not in the picture, we hit 90 degrees pretty early in the day.

I have some tomatoes I still have not potted. I’m not doing them any favors by leaving them in the containers they came in from the nursery. The same goes for the marigolds I have yet to plant. I was doing a huge landscaping project, installing landscaping fabric, mulching, re-designing the flower bed borders – all when I threw out my lower back. It looks like I am healthy enough to continue, but I have to admit my momentum is gone.

I’d really rather just take a book outside and sit on the patio furniture with a glass of iced mint tea. Nonetheless, we aren’t going to have fresh vegetables this summer if I don’t finish my gardening, and soon!

The apples, blueberries, patio tomatoes, blood oranges, navel oranges, and lemons are all doing well. They just need fish emulsion and water. The star fruit tree is dormant. All I really need to do is finish my tomatoes and I can justify grabbing that book and that glass of tea.

Oh, someone just kick me in the rear, please.

I need some input.

Do any of my readers use a tankless water heater system in their home? I have been fascinated by the idea of a system that only heats water on demand for years now, but the last time I looked into having one installed, the plumbing company said we would have to have our entire house replumbed. I think it had something to do with the 2-storey style of our home or something. Honestly, I did not understand. When you hear advertising for tankless water heaters, it always sounds like making the switch is simple.

I’ve known people who have small units under their sink, which is pretty handy for dishes or a cup of tea. I’m talking about a whole house unit, though. I want to know what it would take to convert my house over to that kind of system and also how much hot water I could expect a typical unit to deliver to my home simultaneously (like if someone were showering while I was washing dishes).

I have seen plans for homes that involve just installing a small unit for each location throughout the home that would need hot water. I have heard this is the most energy efficient way to go, but I have to wonder about the initial cost of upkeep of a system like this.

This is a topic I cannot get out of my mind, but when I do the research myself, it seems quite complicated. Input from anyone who has actually used a system like this would be much appreciated.

Generally, I’m a bath person. That is to say that out of the two different types of bathers in this world (those who prefer showers and those who prefer baths), I am one of those who prefers the bath.

But, who has time? As much as I would love to have a calming soak every night; that is a luxury that went out the window with motherhood. I just don’t have enough time to myself, especially as a single mother; to be sitting is a bathtub while my daughter has the run of the house. And, I don’t feel comfortable doing it after she goes to bed, because her “kid sense” perks up and she usually awakes and comes to crash my party.

So, now I am a shower girl. I can get clean a lot faster that way. I had no idea, though, that I would spend my showers in mortal combat with the shower curtain. If my daughter is not sneaking n the bathroom to push the curtain around to stare at me, then there is that creepy bathroom craft that keeps the curtain whipping around my legs as I try to shave or wash my hair.

What’s up with that? Is there some sort of lay of physics I never learned in high school that dictates that a shower curtain has the law of nature on its side and the given ability to shrink your shower space?

Of course, I could buy a curved shower rod to increase the space, but I’m really just not up to drilling holes in the tile to install the fool thing. I did, however, find a product called the ShowerBow. It attaches easily to your existing shower rod and works to create a little more space in the knee and shoulder regions of the shower stall. Plus, it keeps your curtain from blowing in on you. Rather ingenious, but then then I always have believed that some of the best things in life are simple.

One of my good friends wanted wood floors in the downstairs of her house, so she had her uncle show her the ropes and she then proceeded to finish the entire job on her own. I used to live only three miles from her, but I’m too far now to have got up there to help her out.

Of course, helping her would have also been a benefit for me/ I want to learn how to do the work so I can put a hardwood floor out in the family room. Before my cat died last month, she peed once outside her box. We have the smell out of the carpet (not an easy task), but I think starting fresh with the flooring is still a good idea. And, I have always thought wood floors would open up the small space.

I was looking the DeWalt tools website on for prices on the tools I would need, like a circular saw. I think I can everything together that I would need with a minimal payout, especially since I can borrow a lot of the elements. I’m a little intimidated, but labor makes up for SO much of what you pay a professional to do work in your home, so it should be worth it in the end. Plus, I think I can get Bekah to give me at least one lesson before I begin.

I love wood blinds. I think they have a timely style to them and no matter how much trends change, wood blinds are going to blend into the look of your home.

We are putting wood blinds out in the family room to replace the roll down shades. It will also give me the change to take down the curtains for good, since the blinds will look good enough on their own. What that means for me is that everything will be easier to keep dust free and that is good news for my allergies.

So, the next move is to put wood blinds in my bedroom. A week or so ago I was pulling down the shades near the bed and they came down from their anchors. I have no blinds in one of my windows, because I have not gotten around to replacing the screws. Also, I just want o be done with shades in my room altogether and move to wood blinds.

You can spend a lot when it comes down to outfitting your windows. So, I have found that the best thing to do is shop around and to start that shopping online. More often that not, you are going to find the same brands and the same products online as you would in a local home improvement store, but for less money.

Case in point: Select Blinds. Not only is Select Blinds the company that exclusively provides the wood blinds for ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, they offer great pricing on top of their notoriety. They don’t expect you to just take their word for it, either. They offer a 150% Price Guarantee, so you can imagine they are pretty confident about their low pricing. I don’t want to forget free shipping. Blinds can get pretty heavy and free shipping is a deal on heavy packages.

I cannot believe how much bigger and stronger the three remaining mockingbird chicks are now. It has only been a couple days and they have feathers and have lost most of their down.

One of the babies jumped up on a limb of the ficus tree to look around, but he made it back to the nest. Another baby followed suit, but it fell from the nest and the parents are currently pretty busy chasing it around the neighborhood. At my last check, I saw it across the street and two houses down. The mom and dad birds have their hands (wings) full with keeping an eye on the escaped baby and still feeding the two that are still in the nest.

Here is a picture of the first chick to venture out of the nest. He went back in and is sleeping soundly as I write this:

Here is one of the parents. The sun was at the wrong angle, so the picture is washed out, but it is sitting right next to my camera:

Apples in Florida are not like the apples that grow in the north. I was born and raised in Virginia, so apples were part of the landscape there. I missed seeing apples blossoms and apple trees once I moved to Florida.

When I was living in Gainesville, I bought some trees that had been cultivated from Israeli varieties – the “Anna” and “Dorsett Golden”. I bought several trees of each, since they need one another for cross pollination.

I never did put them in the ground, because shortly after I bought them, I found out my then husband was probably being transferred back to Tampa. They came back to the Tamp area with us in the move.

Now I have them in very large pots on the back patio and they are doing so well, despite the fact that most people say they need to be further north in the state to do well. At almost all times throughout the year, we have trees in different stages of production. Right now we have some apples with nothing but buds, some with lovely pink blossoms, and some with ripening apples.

I took a photo of some of the apples. They are growing in droves, but they are small – barely 2 inches across. That is just the nature of these particular varieties.

The apples in the pictures are the “Anna” variety, I think. They are green with a red blush, so I am pretty sure that is what they are.

It is astounding to me how much of a difference two days makes in the lives of the Mockingbird babies that in the nest outside my front door.

If you read my previous post about the mockingbirds, you will remember that there were four, but one of the babies slipped out of the nest due to wind tilting the nest. He died as a result. I put on gloves and carefully removed him, buried him, and then noticed that once the dead baby was gone from the nest, the parents resumed feeding the remaining three. I suppose the dead bird in the next had been upsetting them, because they had stopped feeding the chicks.

Anyway, this picture as taken today and you can tell how much more developed the feathers are. Also, instead of just asking to be fed when I came bear the nest, this time the chicks squawked unhappily at me. I’ll have to back off from now on.

It is a blessing to have the birds right outside the front door. This front row seat to God’s springtime nature broadcast is just amazing.

How many of you dream of a home makeover?

I think all of the time about what I would do if I came upon the extra funds to remodel. The kitchen is the first room that comes to mind. I am in there a lot. I love to cook. I love to entertain. I have had amazing kitchen in my past three homes and now that I am divorced, I am in an older, smaller home with a very outdated kitchen. It is cute, and it functions just fine. Everything is tidy and in great working order, but there is a lot of wasted space. And, I miss my glass top stove. You can see how old my stove is. In fact, in this picture you can see how cramped the cooking space is next to the refrigerator, as well as how out of date the cabinetry is. Yikes. There is only so much that keeping a kitchen spotless can do for the overall good looks of your home.

I would love to redo the cabinets. I love cherry, but this is a small space, so I would open it up with lighter cabinets. And, the counters absolutely need a miracle. They are so old style and the former owners left burn marks like these all over the place. I swear the counters were blemish free when we did our inspection. They must have had a hot pot on the counter fiesta between then and closing.

I want granite top, with a flecked coloration that will hide crumbs for those times you do not have time to wipe up right away. Plus, those burn marks – I just want them gone.

Thank goodness for very cool makeover contests like the Tranform Your Home sweepstakes being sponsored by Renuzit TriScents. $20,000 toward making upgrades to my home would go a long way. And, it makes sense to me that a product that is all about fresh smelling spaces would sponsor a home makeover contest. I know I associate a clean, well cared for home with a fresh smell. I have real pride of ownership and I do not want anyone walking into my home and smelling pets or cooking aromas or stale mustiness. I think a clean smelling home is a huge reflection on the care you put into the beauty, cleanliness, and livability of your home.

I have already entered, but I wanted to make sure to alert all of my readers. Entering is simple, but be sure to follow the official rules. All you have to do is visit the Renuzit site and upload a video or photo, and a written essay that illustrates why you want the home makeover. Then, you just explain how you think Renuzit TriScents can help you fulfill your dream.

We have a pair of mocking birds that built a nest right outside my front door, in two potted ficus trees that happened to tangle together near their leafy tops. They were such a joy to watch as they built the nest. Somewhere, they found fluffy cotton and old Christmas tinsel. I also laid some cotton batting out for them to use; I was flattered when they took me up on my offering.

They laid their eggs and soon thereafter four little babies began tweeting. Mommy and Daddy having been working tirelessly to feed them. And, as the days pass the entire little bird family has become more and more comfortable with our presence. The adult birds no longer take off when we come in and out the front door. And, they no longer squawk at me when I am out working in the flowerbed.

They have even been OK with me taking pictures.

Here are pictures of the four babies yesterday. I agree with my daughter that their open mouths look like exotic flowers.

Last night we had an unusually cold night and very stiff winds. I went out to check the nest this morning and found it very titled. I also found one of the four babies had slipped out and its neck had become caught in between two little branches. It was dead. I felt quite saddened.

Evn more alarming was that the adult birds seemed to be avoiding the next while it had a dead baby in it. So, I put on gloves and got a long stick. I carefully moved around the branches until the baby fell into my hand. The, I dug a hole in one of my flower beds and gave him a little burial.

I wrnt back and did my best to jiggle things around to right the nest. As soon as I was finished, the adults came back and began feeding the remaining three babies

I’m honred to be able to watch all of this so close. And, even though the death of the 4th baby was heart breaking, it gives me a personal look at nature.

I have two booster seats for my five-year-old daughter to use in the car. The one I like best is a Grace TurboBooster and it has a comfy back. But, I left the seat bottom out on the porch one rainy night and by the next hot and muggy afternoon, the seat cover and arm covers had begun to get black mold spots.

I have tried soaking, bleach, and scrubbing with Tide. I have succeeded in fading the color of the car seat, but the mold has refused to withdraw in the least. Since I am allergic to mold, as is my daughter, I decided the covers are a loss.

I called Graco just now and was able to purchase a replacement set cover and the arm covers for $27.95, which includes tax and shipping. That is more than the most of a brand new backless booster. But, alas, I want the booster to have a back and I want it to match the cover for the seat back. So, I felt stuck.

Anyway, all of this is a rambling way to ask if anyone has a miracle tips as to how to remove black mold spots from fabric.

I have been wanting to get around to cleaning out the garage for a long time now. I very long time, in fact. It’s just that I never seem to wake up in the morning and say to myself, “Gee, this is a perfect day to pull everything out of the garage and spend hours sweating as I clean and reorganize!”

So, today fate took care of my motivation for me.

I was outside watering the plants in the front flower gardens when I saw a snake sunning itself underneath one of the shepherd’s hooks that holds some red petunias. I hate snakes. I have a fabulously irrational fear of snakes that makes my hands and feet go numb, I can barely breathe, and I start seeing dark spots in front of my eyes. It is terrible.

So, without my much thought, I aimed the hose at the snake. I have no idea where I thought the snake would go, but it promptly disappeared around the corner. I did not see it cross the driveway, so there was only one place I thought it could have gone – into the garage!

We just had a new garage door installed and it has a rather good seal at the bottom. Nonetheless, I could not figure any other place that snake could have gone. So, with white knuckles and questionable breathing, I set about dragging every single thing out of the garage to find that snake.

I never did find the snake. I suppose it actually slithered off into the yard somewhere and I just did not see its getaway. I did, however, find tons of stuff to throw away. I also loaded the van full of things to bring to a women’s shelter. And, now all of the bins and shelves and boxes in the garage are logically organized into rows. It’s quite nice out there.

And all that, thanks to a snake.

I’m the type that often forgets to pull down my blinds at night. Of course, once I need to undress or change, I remember and down go the blinds. I like my neighbors, but there are just some things I don’t care to share with them. There is no reason for them to know if I am wearing my fancy panties or the laundry day underwear, you know?

The other night as I reached to pull down the roller shades, they popped right off their hardware. The whole thing tumbled down and until I buy some new brackets, it is staying down. I can kiss privacy goodbye on that particular window. Unfortunately, my bed is snuggled right next to that window, so now I sometimes wake up in the middle of the night, look out the window and wonder if some bored teenager out skulking around the neighborhood has been watching me sleep.

Oh well, that is probably the best way to motivate me to actually get out and buy the new brackets!

I recently bought a beautiful Gymboree Easter dress from a line they put out several years ago – Garden Party. I got it on eBay for close to nothing. I think the seller had not listed the product line name or something. I was thrilled, since it was one of the dresses I had wanted my daughter to have for a long time.

Garden Party fabric

She wore it the day after her birthday, when we went to Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Epcot. We had been to the Pirate & Princess party the night before and this was a follow-up leisure day on some free Park Hopper passes we got from a friend who works in the park system.

Anyway, close to the end of the day I noticed that Gigi had been carrying her little autograph book that she had made herself close to her chest, school-girl style. The ballpoint ink pen she had been using was in the spiral spine of the book and it had been open all along! Her dress was absolutely covered with with bright blue ballpoint ink marks. Covered.

My initial response was to soak the spots in Tide for day or so and wash the dress. That did not even fade the marks! Finally, I sat down with a Q-Tip and some rubbing alcohol and just gently rubbed at each mark. I noticed the marks were slowly fading, so I soaked the dress in cold water over night and then let the dress dry. I repeated the process three times and finally I had a dress completely free of pen marks!

It was a timely process, but it saved the dress. Ideally, you would put an old towel behind the fabric you are dabbing, so the ink will bleed onto the towel. The dress I was working on, though, was lined with a satin, so the towel was superfluous.